Tell me to get/not get a Mac

[Skashion]

I'm gonna do some research into laptops and see the sort of price range I'm looking at. I don't know an awful lot about computers, what sort of specs should I be looking at that will be good and fast for a while.

Also is anyone aware of other laptop brands that have student discount like apple do?

I'd be look at an i5 minimum on your budget, you could push it to an i7 depending on whether you want to spend or save. Personally, I wouldn't bother. I'd spend your money on an i5 with a faster clock. Should be looking at 4GB of RAM (faster DDR3 would be good too - 1333MHz but prioritise CPU speed where there's a conflict) at least. Hard-drive size, I wouldn't worry too much about. It's as easy and as cheap to get an external drive these days. One thing you ought to consider though is discrete graphics. Your laptop will be a bit heavier so you'll lose a bit of portability but you'll see more CPU-intensive tasks being pushed to graphics over the next few years. This would see you get more out of the laptop if you're planning on keeping it long-term.

If you're going PC I'd recommend Asus. Here's a list of laptops I'd be considering if I were you: http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/#search=1&cpu[5]=Intel Core i5 (copy and paste it)

 

[Pride_In_Battle]

I'd suggest getting a cheaper Intel-based laptop, and having a dual-boot of OSX and Windows 7. That's what I'd do in your position anyway. It'll save you a few hundred quid!

 

[Skashion]

I'd suggest getting a cheaper Intel-based laptop, and having a dual-boot of OSX and Windows 7. That's what I'd do in your position anyway. It'll save you a few hundred quid!

It's what I'd do too but can you honestly recommend it to this guy. Even say the partitioning and installs are smooth as silk and you don't have to do any fiddling with kexts or boot flags, you still have to install Chameleon manually with the command-line so that you can set the active partition as Windows, jump into the Windows command-line and then set the active partition as OS X. I know it seems relatively easy to us but it won't be for most people.

 

[clarkie_ni]

iv had both and i must say the mac has converted me.
1. its beautiful and the OS is a dream to use
2. its far better boot up time than any PC iv seen, even a similar priced PC laptop
3. the support and help you get from apple is very good, my screen had a large line down it after about 3months, took it in, they transferred all the stuff i had over on my NEW mac and an hour later, new mac, new charger, new accessories that come in box. excellent.
4. you will find the experience just so much better.

they are more expensive, but i find that they treat you better and as a result you use them more, you appreciate them more.
the PC laptops i had i really didnt want to push that on button, cuase i knew what was coming, registry error, 15mins of boot up time, battery being sucked dry after 30mins, etc

 

[bluemoon05]

I'd suggest getting a cheaper Intel-based laptop, and having a dual-boot of OSX and Windows 7. That's what I'd do in your position anyway. It'll save you a few hundred quid!

It's what I'd do too but can you honestly recommend it to this guy. Even say the partitioning and installs are smooth as silk and you don't have to do any fiddling with kexts or boot flags, you still have to install Chameleon manually with the command-line so that you can set the active partition as Windows, jump into the Windows command-line and then set the active partition as OS X. I know it seems relatively easy to us but it won't be for most people.

On the basis that I didn't understand any of the jargon in this post I won't be attempting this.

I'm really split to be honest, more research needed I think

 

[Gelsons Dad]

iv had both and i must say the mac has converted me.
1. its beautiful and the OS is a dream to use
2. its far better boot up time than any PC iv seen, even a similar priced PC laptop
3. the support and help you get from apple is very good, my screen had a large line down it after about 3months, took it in, they transferred all the stuff i had over on my NEW mac and an hour later, new mac, new charger, new accessories that come in box. excellent.
4. you will find the experience just so much better.

they are more expensive, but i find that they treat you better and as a result you use them more, you appreciate them more.
the PC laptops i had i really didnt want to push that on button, cuase i knew what was coming, registry error, 15mins of boot up time, battery being sucked dry after 30mins, etc

All of this is why I will not be leaving the apple brand anytime soon. I also find the seamless integration with my phone and my work pc through MobileMe and my iDisk make the experience what it should be. It's no longer a constant battle with the technology. It's now about the tasks i want to achieve. Zero maintenance, maximum pleasure. The only downside is the cost. I can afford it so it's no question for me but I understand that for others there is a valid argument.

 

[hnic]

Buy a top of the line Asus laptop. Macbooks usually comes with downgraded hardware compared to the price. Also, hipster buy Apple, normal people dont.

Btw, dont confuse Acer with Asus, they are a world in difference.

 

[Irwell]

iv had both and i must say the mac has converted me.
1. its beautiful and the OS is a dream to use

Apart from the security weaknesses and lack of configuration options? If you want a beautiful OS, just take a look at KDE.

2. its far better boot up time than any PC iv seen, even a similar priced PC laptop

I am on Ubuntu and mine takes six seconds from powering on to opening a browser.

3. the support and help you get from apple is very good, my screen had a large line down it after about 3months, took it in, they transferred all the stuff i had over on my NEW mac and an hour later, new mac, new charger, new accessories that come in box. excellent.

HP actually replaced my machine outside of warranty, it cost less than a mac and has a higher spec than any macbook on sale today.

4. you will find the experience just so much better. they are more expensive, but i find that they treat you better and as a result you use them more, you appreciate them more.

The experience is better if you have very basic requirements, for everything else it's just too restrictive, slow or insecure depending on what you are trying to do. All Apple products are the same.

the PC laptops i had i really didnt want to push that on button, cuase i knew what was coming, registry error, 15mins of boot up time, battery being sucked dry after 30mins, etc

You are confusing "PC" with "Windows".

 

[Skashion]

Apart from the security weaknesses and lack of configuration options? If you want a beautiful OS, just take a look at KDE.

KDE isn't an OS. ;) You are right though.

 

[Irwell]

KDE isn't an OS. ;) You are right though.

I know, I should have clarified that if you want a beautiful OS you should just install KDE on a Linux-based distribution! Damn that terminology!